2007 specialty conformation

Border collie club of Northern California

Bccnc

It was my great pleasure to judge the 1st Annual Specialty Show of the Border Collie Club of Northern California on Thursday October 25th. My congratulations to Susan Joder, who was the Show Chairperson, and to her committee, for putting on such a wonderful show on their very first attempt. Everything was so well organized and run that it seemed like an event run by a very experienced club with lots of successful shows under their belt. I also want to compliment the beautiful trophies and nice rosettes for all the placements, along with wonderful hospitality. Great job!

I was a bit surprised by the quality of the entry, both in the classes and in the lovely Specials class. At most shows, the Border Collie entry is rather small, and the make and shape of the dogs is very inconsistent. At this specialty the majority of the entry was very typical and consistent, making it all that much more enjoyable to judge.

My Winners Dog was Shoreland’s Bring On The Night, from the 12 to 18 month class. He is a beautiful example of the breed with wonderful balance and movement. Reserve Winners was Majestic Whole Towns Talking from the 9 to 12 month puppy class. He is beautiful as well; not quite as mature, but very promising.

Winners Bitch was Pawcific Dream Date from the Bred by Exhibitor class. I was very taken with her. She has a beautiful head, great breed type and balance, and wonderful movement. I was pleased to also award her Best of Winners. Reserve Winners to her was Sportingfield Tessa Of Borderfame, from the 12 to 18 month class, who was very nice as well.

The Best of Breed class was filled with quality, and was a beautiful sight when assembled. The line-up included the winners of the Veteran classes, and the Herding Titled Dog. All three were from 8 to 11 years old, but looked and performed like much younger dogs. I made two cuts during

the Best of Breed judging, and want to document them here to acknowledge the high quality of this entry.

The first cut included:

Ch. Castlewalk Blackwatch Niklas (Veteran Dog)

Ch. Highland Living For The Moment HT (Bitch)

Ch. Pawcific Way Out West (Dog)

Ch. Shoreland Rock Me (Bitch)

Ch. Kensington’s Charlie Chaplin (Dog)

Ch. Kensington’s Made For Ewe (Bitch)

Ch. Wildair Jones Himself (Dog)

Ch. Celestria’s Easter Parade (Bitch)

Ch. Celestria’s Caliente’s Concho (Dog)

The final cut included:

Ch. Castlewalk Blackwatch Niklas

Ch. Highland Living For The Moment HT

Ch. Shoreland Rock Me

Ch. Kensington’s Charlie Chaplin

Ch. Wildair Jones Himself

From this final group, I selected Ch. Highland Living For The Moment, HT, as my Best of Breed. What a gorgeous Border Collie bitch. She is lovely in every way, and has the most beautifully correct gait for the breed. She moves effortlessly and with endurance, as well as carrying her head in a proper stealth-like position on a loose lead. She is a really wonderful example of the breed. When I reviewed the catalog I was pleased to see that she is herding titled, and also that she is over 7 years old and still in such gorgeous condition. Best of Opposite Sex was Ch. Kensington’s Charlie Chaplin, who is a very handsome dog with much to offer the breed. Best of Winners was my beautiful Winners Bitch as mentioned previously. I gave the remaining members of my final cut Awards of Merit, and felt that they were all very deserving.

I believe that my final winners were good consistent examples of what I find most desirable in the breed. I place greatest importance on a Border Collie that is of an overall moderate type, with proper balance and movement. I want to see a dog that is very alert to all that is going on around him, and will usually test for that by trying to subtly get the dog’s attention away from his handler

while judging. I prefer to see the dogs presented naturally, and was pleased to see that the great majority of them were shown this way. There were only a couple that were blown and fluffed enough to ruin their natural outline, and these same dogs also looked like they may have had some coat shaping done as well, which I find very objectionable. I won’t defeat a really deserving dog because of this, but will use it as a final decision point between two dogs of similar quality.

Again, congratulations on a wonderful show, and best wishes for your continued success.

Conformation Critique

Fred C. Bassett

BCCNC 2007 Specialty Conformation Judge

Conformation Critique

Fred C. Bassett

BCCNC 2007 Specialty Conformation Judge